Sunday, October 10, 2004

Bonus Prospect Report

Before Niemann, Humber, and Townsend, there was Kenny Baugh. I liked Baugh a lot in 2001, when he was one of the best college arms available. There were some pretty frightening stories of how he was used at Rice, though. Some stories were floating around about 180 pitch outings on 3 days rest. Well, as one would predict, Baugh tore his labrum, and missed all of 2002 after surgery. He looks like he's starting to get back into form now, with his 3.72 ERA with 107 K's and 41 walks in 142.2 innings at AA Erie. He isn't an elite prospect. He isn't the prospect he was before the surgery. But at least he's back on the radar. He now projects as a back of the rotation starter, or possibly a pretty good reliever/swing starter. He'll probably start next year in Toledo.